Because there was too much fun to be contained in one post!
And because what better way to start a post than with......
COUSINS!!!!!!
Thanks to Genevieve for getting this awesome picture and to Grandpa Larsen for adding the names (for Uncle Evan's benefit since he's never met most of them....)
My attempt at capturing the moment turned out more like this:
You can see that some kids were more desperate than others to get off that swing!
One of the nights of the reunion was popcorn and movie night. They played a shorter movie for the kids first - aren't these girls adorable?! (Reagan is sitting farther back :( )
There were several options for sleep arrangements (tent, camp trailer (like Mom/Dad), staying at home and driving up every day (like Kelly/Lance), or room in the lodge). Since we're not big campers, we went with a room in the lodge. Here's ours!
One morning was field games! Halle and I watched while Eve and Andrew participated (sporadically).
In this game, these macho sets of men here launched water balloons across the field and people at the other end, holding hands in giant circles, had to try to run as a group such that they 'caught' the balloon in the center of their circle. Pretty enjoyable to watch!
Later that morning - rocket building/launching for the kids! Andrew helped Eve decorate a rocket....
...press the button to launch it....
...and get it off the roof! :)
I'd say a successful first experience with rockets!
There were a couple of creeks on either side of the lodge, so a little time for getting wet. This creek was considerably smaller....but Halle still didn't care for it.
Eve, however, had a blast!
And she wasn't alone! Chiara thought it was fun too!
Our experience with the other river was a little more scarring....I'll get to that shortly.
In the meantime that afternoon, Halle found a new play place!
And the bigger kids found a new past time - pinatas!
Reagan was all over that watermelon like white on rice!
Eve wanted help...
And soon she and Reagy moved to the swings to wait for the bigger kids of finish it off so the candy could come out. They did and it did and there were lots of sugar-high kids the rest of the afternoon.
After naps there was more play time with Grandma:
And then on to the promised other river adventure. This river was big enough that several of people had been floating down it throughout the day. Well, we hadn't really planned on it, but Kelly and Lance had. They didn't arrive until late that afternoon, though, and by the time they did, it was overcast and cool. But they were not to be deterred! I decided that it'd be fun to join them and took Eve along. Harmless enough, right?
Getting started:
Away we went!
As soon as we rounded the bend and she couldn't see Andrew anymore, Eve lost it. She started screaming and crying for Dad; "I need my Daddy!" The water was SUPER cold, but since she was in my lap, that shouldn't have really bothered her. Somehow she and I ended up in the SLOWEST tube, so we kept lagging behind the rest of the group (Eric, Lance, and Kelly/Reagy). And apparently I wasn't very good at steering while trying to keep Eve alive and calm cause we kept getting stuck along the banks. Haha, it was priceless. But wait, there's more.
I finally got Eve calmed down such that she seemed to be almost enjoying herself. Then the rain started. And by rain, I mean rain! A downpour of cold, heavy rain! Eve completely went to pieces at that point. She was clinging to me, shaking, and yelling at the top of her lungs "how are we going to do this?!" for the last 5 minutes or so of the trip. We finally made it to the end only for our tub to drift to the far side of the river and refuse to catch the current that would allow us to reach the other bank and get out. Uncle Lance swam the cold river and rescued us and we quickly sought the shelter of a nearby pavilion where Andrew was ready with dry towels.
Victorious!
Haha, not an experience to be soon forgotten, especially by Eve who will probably never want to go again!
After getting warmed and dried up we had an awesome evening in our little room. All the siblings and cousins joined us and the kids watched Winnie the Pooh while the adults played Phase 10.
I think we made it through about 1 round, but it was so fun to just have time to be together. We missed Merrill and Evan!
Eve enjoyed the time to spend with Grandma and Grandpa, even though she had to share them with other cousins.
She even got to try Grandpa's hat!
The river's not so scary when it sunny and hot outside! (And when you're a safe distance from it....)
Relaxing time with Mommy....
Family reunions are all about cooking in bulk! There were 5 or 6 adults assigned to prepare each meal and Grandpa Larsen took his turn browning the meat for tacos!
While Darci and Eve worked up their appetites in the dirt....
Taco lunch (which was SO good!!!) was followed by a recently revitalized treat - twinkies! Eve's first!
We finished out that day and night and just like that the reunion was over for another two years. We all loaded up and headed out the next morning, and while that phase of our vacation was over, the fun was nowhere near done!
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